At the beginning of The Fires of Heaven, Mat is in Rhuidean with Rand. He has been drinking and gambling with the Aiel as much as his luck will let him get away with. He is eager to leave the Aiel Waste, though still wary of Moiraine and other Aes Sedai. After going through the redstone doorway ter'angreal, his memories have been filled with many men's from other eras, and he has a silver foxhead medallion and an odd polearm with ravens engraved on it.